BCS, An OC Interview, And Driven Spikes

Movement has been spotted on the offensive coordinator front down at 4949 Centennial Blvd. in Santa Clara. Colts wide receivers coach Clyde Christensen interviewed this morning. Part of the Colts offensive machine, Christensen spent seven seasons tutoring Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and the like. Before that he was an offensive coordinator for the 2001 season before Tony Dungy was fired in favor of Jon Gruden.

That year, the Bucs offense finished tied for 26th in offensive yards, but 15th in passing yards with Brad Johnson as the quarterback and Keyshawn Johnson, who went to the Pro Bowl that year, as his main target.

Dungy offensive school has traditionally run the digital or digit system, the same scheme the 49ers have run for the last three seasons. Christensen has also been a zone blocking advocate, the same system newly hired running backs coach Tom Rathman worked in the last two years in Oakland.

BCS REVIEW: For those interested in how players the 49ers might be focusing on in the BCS Championship Game last night fared, here’s a quick look. By the way I was remiss in not mentioning Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford yesterday as a prospect. Correction: He’s a redshirt sophomore, nevertheless, two scouts said that he is a far better prospect than Tim Tebow and they compared him to Troy Aikman. He didn’t play that well in this game, but the game-killing interception was simply a great play by Florida safety Ahmad Black.

Sooner safety Lendy Holmes – Both defenses played well and Holmes not only showed an ability to cover but also come down and be a eighth man in the box to stop the run.

Sooner safety Nic Harris – He had his only interception of the season in this game by stepping in front of a Tebow pass in the first quarter. He also showed surprising strength hauling down the explosive Percy Harvin with one hand after a long run.

Sooner offensive tackles Phil Loadholt and Trent Williams. Not having enough time wasn’t Bradford’s problem and these two blocked like demons in the first half when Oklahoma was rushing at will. Williams showed some toughness, he limped off in the second half, but then shortly returned.

Oh, Shut up already!

Probably the best Sooner on the field was sophomore defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. What a beast. On one play, he flushed Tebow from the pocket, turn around and caught him from behind. The tiresome Tebow gained 2 yards on the play. Sorry, not a Tebow fan. The excessive emoting, the freakish speech after the Gators’ in-season loss, the showing up of the opposition. If was he was Vernon Davis, everybody would hate him and call him an emotionally-unhinged showboat. He didn’t throw that well, completing 18 of 30 passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions that were clearly his fault.

Gator right tackle Justin Trautwein really struggled with four false starts and a poor game in pass protection. He did run block well. Jason Watkins played far better on the left side; he might be a find in the middle rounds.

Wide receiver Louis Murphy showed some big play ability by scoring an early touchdown, but left the game later with a leg pull.

Harvin was everything as advertised. He’s a talent. Overall, Florida’s skill players seemed so much faster and that fact probably won them the game.

Linebacker Brandon Spikes seemed to be intimidated to start after getting nearly tackled on a couple plays by Sooner senior guard Duke Robinson. He did show versatility by rushing off the edge and playing middle linebacker, but he didn’t have much of an impact in this game.

Which brings us to

SPIKES AND SPIKES: Takeo Spikes is a cousin to Brandon, something he didn’t realize until a few years ago.

“At first I thought that I was the last of the Spikes’ generation and it was a couple of years ago I found out, before my father died, he told me that I had [family] in [North Carolina] around the [North Carolina/ South Carolina State line] near Charlotte, NC,” Takeo said. “So a couple of years had past by and some of the old relatives came to see me and the rest of my relatives and that’s when I knew of him at the time.”

Takeo started a tradition this season of catering food and watching film after practice on Wednesdays with his teammates. He suggested that to Brandon, and Brandon invited his teammates over to his apartment on Thursday nights for pizza and film study. Some say that Takeo plays like Brandon.

“I think that he has natural football tendencies,” Takeo said. “His football I.Q. is very high because he just plays with great instinct.”